Joe Carter's three-run homer off Mitch Williams, which ended the 1993 World Series and gave the Toronto Blue Jays an 8-6 win over the Phillies remains one of the most painful losses in Philadelphia history. (Photo by Rick Stewart/Getty Images)

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When Kawhi Leonard’s baseline jumper bounced so agonizingly slowly off the rim four times before softly falling to seal the 2019 Sixers’ fate, they all came rushing in. Memories of a lifetime of similar disappointments for Philadelphia sports fans.

Memories which in many cases go back long before a time we had to worry about salary caps. A time when the idea of free agency was a fantasy and players were beholden to their teams for life. Back then we didn’t care how much they made—and would boo or cheer them accordingly. We only cared whether they scored a touchdown or fumbled… homered or struck out with the bases loaded.

But throughout that lifetime there’s been one constant, which was reinforced once again Sunday. To the fan, a painful loss in the 1960s or '70s hurt just as much then as the one Sixers fans are feeling today.

Tbe stunned Flyers wait at their bench while replay confirms Patrick Kane's Game 6 overtime goal from a bad angle, which won the 2010 Stanley Cup for the Chicago Blackhawks. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Getty Images)

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And while Philadelphians have certainly had their blissful moments… back to back Stanley Cups in 1974-75 when their rallying cry was “Only the Lord Saves More than Bernie Parent… the 1980 Phillies' championship after Pete Rose snatched Kansas City’s Frank White’s foul ball out of the air when it bounced off Bob Boone’s glove, then Tug McGraw fanned Willie Wilson to end it.. The “Fo! Fo! Fo!” Dr. J and Moses Malone-led Sixers of 1983.. Chase Utley’s dynamic throw to the plate to nail Tampa’s Jason Bartlett in the climatic 2008 clinching Game 5 of the World Series after a two-day rain suspension .. and most recently “The Philly Special” Trey Burton to Nick Foles touchdown pass followed by Brandon Graham’s strip sack of Tom Brady to seal Super Bowl LII… those moments have been overwhelmed by the painful ones.

Here, then, in inverse order are the dirtiest dozen losses in Philadelphia sports history—well, at least for the past half century-plus.

Mike Michel—on Christmas Eve, 1978 Dick Vermeil’s Eagles carried a 13-0 lead into the fourth quarter of the first ever NFC wild card game against the host Falcons before things began to unravel. When Steve Bartkowski threw late two touchdown passes Atlanta had the lead, .before Ron Jaworski drove the Eagles deep into Falcon territory with time winding down.

That set the stage for Michel, a converted punter turned place kicker due to an injury to Nick Mike-Mayer, to win it. But his 34-yard field goal attempt sailed wide, ruining Philadelphia’s holiday and Michel’s NFL career. He never played another game.

Barry Gibbs and Gerry Meehan—These two are grouped together because of the unique similarity of their “accomplishment." Within a two-year span Gibbs, a Minnesota North Stars' defenseman and Buffalo Sabres’ forward Meehan, scored the improbable goals that knocked the 1970 and ’72 Flyers respectively out of the playoffs.

Gibbs had to be stunned when his third period dump-in from center ice bounced past an equally stunned Bernie Parent, who said he lost sight of the puck in the glare of the Spectrum lights, into the net to break a scoreless tie and break the Flyers’ hearts. But that was nothing compared to the goal Meehan scored when his blast from just inside the blue eluded Doug Favell with just :04 left to play sending Philadelphia, which had held a 2-0 second period lead, home for the summer,

Rather than let such a crushing loss devastate them, though the Flyers grew stronger from it. Two years later they won their first Cup.

Leon Stickle and Bob Nystrom—Facing the Islanders and back in the Cup Finals for the first time since their “Hat Trick in ‘76” bid was foiled by Montreal, the Flyers trailed the series 3-2 when they headed to the Island for Game 6. It was 1-1 late in the first period when veteran linesman Stickle failed to whistle the Islanders for an apparent offsides on a rush that resulted instead with them scoring the lead goal.

Eventually the Isles seized a 4-2 lead before the Flyers battled back to send it into overtime. That’s where Nystrom struck, with the Stanley Cup winning goal at a lucky 7:11, beginning the Isles run of four straight Cups. Now 39 years, later the Flyers, of course, are still looking for their next.

The Fog Bowl— Just over a decade since Mike Michel cost Dick Vermeil’s Eagles a playoff game, Buddy Ryan’ Birds were victimized in an even more unlikely manner. Taking on the Bears at Chicago Stadium on New Year’s Eve in the Divisional round, the Eagles got off to a slow start, but seemed to be gaining momentum late in the first half.

That’s when the fog started rolling in. It was 17-9 at the time and from there both teams could only manage a field goal apiece, Chicago winning 20-12. That’s because they simply couldn’t see because of the thick blanket of fog that enveloped the field, which made passing virtually impossible.

The argument was that the referees should’ve stopped the game, the way they do when lightning strikes. But the NFL wouldn’t allow it. And so a promising Eagles’ season faded away.

Chico Ruiz – By itself one moment in time, the brazen attempt of a 24-year–old utility infielder to steal home with two out and power-hitting Frank Robinson at the plate, didn’t ruin the 1964 Phillies. But it certainly set the wheels in motion. Ruiz so surprised Art Mahaffey when he took off the big right-hander threw a wild pitch, enabling him to score what proved to be the game's only run.

That dropped Gene Mauch’s Phils’ National League lead to 5 1/2 games over Ruiz’ Reds, six over the Cardinals. It seemed no big deal at the time until that loss turned into the start of a horrific 10-game losing streak that would cost them the pennant—three to the Reds, four to the Braves, three in St. Louis--the team that would eventually go on to win it all.

Alshon Jeffery’s Drop---Nick Foles seem to be on the verge of doing it again. The Super Bowl LII MVP, having again taken over for an injured Carson Wentz late in the season, had somehow guided the Eagles into the playoffs, then past the Bears in the wild card game.

Now he was trying to lead them past the Saints, who had embarrassed them 48-7 earlier in the season. Down 20-14 Foles had Philadelphia nearing the red zone when his second down pass bounced off Jeffery's usually sure hands. That wouldn’t have been fatal, except New Orleans' Marshon Lattiore was able to scoop the ball up before it hit the turf for the interception that spelled the Eagles' doom.

Even had they taken the lead, it’s sheer conjecture whether or not the Eagles would’ve held off Drew Brees, then gone on to beat the Rams in the NFC title game to set up a Super Bowl LIII rematch with Tom Brady and the Patriots. But it would’ve been fun finding out.

Magic’s 42—The 1980 Sixers returned home for Game 6 of the NBA Finals vs. a Lakers team that had left its best player, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar home due to a sprained ankle and constant migraine headaches. In other words they were seemingly willing to concede a game to let him rest for a potential Game 7 back at the Forum.

It never came down to that. Instead, 20-year-old rookie point guard Earvin “Magic” Johnson moved to center, where he wreaked all sorts of havoc on Julius Erving, Caldwell Jones, Darryl Dawkins and the rest of the Sixers. With Johnson pouring in 42 points, grabbing 15 rebonnds and handing out seven assists, and Jamaal Wilkes erupting for 37, the Kareem-less Lakers broke open a close game late to win going away, 123-107 and celebrate a championship on the Spectrum floor. It proved a forerunner to 2001 when Shaquille O’Neal and hometown product Kobe Bryant would celebrate after taking out Allen Iverson & Co. here in five games.

Havlicek Stole the Ball—Game 7 of the 1965 Eastern Finals at Boston Garden had come down to one play under the Celtics basket, after future Hall of Famer Bill Russell hit the guide wire when he tried to throw it in. Down 110-109 in just their second year of existence since moving from Syracuse to Philadelphia, a basket would send them to a title showdown vs. Jerry West, Elgin Baylor and the Lakers.

But Celtics forward John Havlicek ruined those hopes when he cut in front of Chet Walker to intercept Hal Greer’s inbounds pass—although he did appear to make clear contact with Walker on the play, which went uncalled. Havlicek then passed it over to teammate Sam Jones, who proceeded to run out the clock and foil the upset.

Black Friday—Longtime Phillies fans will never forget this Friday afternoon debacle. After splitting in L.A. the Phils held a 4-2 lead with two outs in the ninth in Game 3 of the 1977 National League Championship Series—a game where Phillies fans had literally hooted Dodgers’ starter Burt Hooton off the mound with their boisterous cheering—when veteran Vic Davalillo stepped in to face side-arming reliever Gene Garber.

Davalillo surprised everyone in the ballpark by dropping a bunt single down the third base line, sending pinchhitting specialist Manny Mota to the plate. Mota drove the ball deep to left where Greg Luzinski, whom manager Danny Ozark usually would replace with defensive specialist Jerry Martin, misplayed what appeared to be a catchable ball off the wall for an RBI double. Mota took third when Luzinski’s throw to the infield skipped past second baseman Ted Sizemore.

That put him in position to score the tying run when first base umpire Bruce Froemming called Davey Lopes safe after his hard hit ball caromed off third baseman Mike Schmidt to shortstop Larry Bowa, whose throw to first after barehanding the ball appeared to beat Lopes for what would've been the final out . Instead, moments later following a bad pickoff and Bill Russell single the Dodgers had a 5-4 lead they would maintain, before finishing off the series the following night in a driving rain behind Tommy John.

Kawhi Leonard—Who knows what would’ve happened had Leonard’s shot fallen off the rim, the way his Raptor predecessor Vince Carter’s did in Game 7 of the 2001 Eastern Semifinals, Maybe Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Jimmy Butler & Co. would’ve not only gone on to win that game, but like their 2001 counterparts knock off the Bucks in the Conference Finals.

Maybe they would’ve then taken care of the either the two-time defending champion Warriors—whom they’d already beaten in Oakland this season—or the upstart Trail Blazers, the same franchise team that killed their 1977 title aspirations. Was this team capable of any or all of that? Because Leonard’s shot dropped rather than falling off the rim, we’ll never know.

Patrick Kane—We’ll also never know what would’ve happened had the 2010 Flyers—a team which needed to win in a shootout over the Rangers the final day of the season just to make the playoffs, then went on a roll straight to the Stanley Cup Final vs. the Blackhawks—made it to a decisive Game 7 in Chicago. Instead, those dreams were shattered when Kane’s improbable shot from a sharp angle just 4:06 into overtime somehow sneaked through an opening in goalie Michael Leighton’s pad to the far side of the net.

Kane immediately started celebrated, then was joined by his teammates while the Flyers and everyone in the building was numb. Not until the goal was confirmed by replay did reality sink in, with the Blackhawks becoming the first team since the 1976 Canadiens to clinch the Cup in Philadelphia. They would go on to add two more since then, while the Flyers have managed to win only one playoff series and miss the playoffs entirely four of the last seven years, including 2019.

Joe Carter—There seems little debate of the all the disheartening losses in Philadelphia sports history, this was the worst. Ironically, it too, took place in Toronto in Game 6 of the 1993 World Series It too, ended in a way no one could've foreseen.

After falling behind 3-1 in the series by squandering a 14-9 eighth-inning lead in Game 4, the Phils stayed alive in Game 5 behind Curt Schilling in a 2-0 shutout. So they trekked back North for Game 6, where Lenny Dykstra’s three-run homer during a five-run seventh gave them a 6-5 lead heading to the bottom of the ninth.

Then it quickly came apart. A leadoff walk and one-out single by future Hall of Famer Paul Molitor brought Carter to the plate to face Phils closer Mitch Williams, who had already blown the save in Game 4.

Witb the count 2-2 Carter unloaded a tracer to left that cleared the fence as Pete Incaviglia watched helplessly. Skydome erupted as the Phillies trudged off the field, victimized by the first World Series ending homer since the Pirates Bill Mazeroski off Ralph Terry in 1960.

So that’s it. Perhaps a bit of catharsis for longtime Philadelphia fans who’ve endured it all. Well, not quite. Upon further review there's one more to add, making it an unlucky 13. And there were plenty to choose from.

Donovan McNabb allegedly getting sick in the huddle, forcing to Eagles--down 24-14 late in the game-- to use too much clock in their comeback bid in Super Bowl XXXIX... An epic Game 5 collapse in the last two minutes in Boston during the 1981 Eastern Finals with the Sixers up 3-1, costing them not only that game but the series.... Harold Carmichael's motion penalty wiping out what would've been in the tying score in Super Bowl XV. Moments later the Raiders' Jim Plunkett threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Kenny King and the Eagles never recovered.

But the "winner" is...

Howard's End--The 2011 Phillies after winning a franchise record 102 games, to take the N.L. East for the fifth straight season drew the wild card Cardinals, who need a late surge just to make the playoffs, in the first round. But after squandering 1-0 and 2-1 series leads it came down to a decisive Game 5, with Roy Halladay facing his former mound teammate and hunting buddy, Chris Carpenter.

The Cards jumped right on top, then the crowd waited for the Phils to strike back. They're still waiting. Carpenter went the distance on a three-hitter, surviving Chase Utley's ninth-inning leadoff drive to the warning track in center that died in the cold night air.

Two battered later it was left to slugger Ryan Howard, who grounded sharply to second for the final out, as the Cardinals celebrated their improbable victory. .But while they celebrated, the Phillies huddled around a prone Howard, who had torn his Achilles on the swing and to be helped off the field.

He was never the same after that, hitting just 96 homers with 330 RBIs over the next five seasons. In contrast Howard had bashed no less than 31 homers or 108 RBIs each of the previous six years, four times knocking at least 45 out of the park. The Phils haven;t been the same either, since they have yet to have a winning season in the seven years since, while those Cardinals not only went on to win it all in 2011 but got back to the World Series two years later.

Here's the final word, then. If there’s one thing Philadelphia fans should've learned through the years it's this: If you think it’s bad now remember it can always—and usually will—get worse.